Student Ambassador Named Outstanding Leader

August 17, 2010

CASE's 2010 Outstanding Student Leader Adam Compton '09 is second from the left on the back row. The photo was taken at a student programs conference at the University of Mississippi in February.

We learned today that Adam Compton’09, a four-year member of our Student Ambassador Program (AASAP), was one of three college students across the nation named a 2010 Outstanding Student Leader by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Adam was chair of Homecoming 2009 and the senior class president in 2008-09. AASAP was also previously named the 2010 Outstanding Student Organization at the CASE District 3 student programs conference. Congratulations to Adam and all the passionate students affiliated with AASAP!

To know more about AASAP and the role that outstanding students like Adam play in continuing NC State traditions, read our Q&A with incoming AASAP president Matt Long after the jump. The Q&A originally appeared in the summer issue of NC State magazine. Matt talks about the purpose of AASAP and what’s ahead for the student program in 2010-11.

How Traditions Carry On

This past spring, our Alumni Association Student Ambassador Program (AASAP) was named Outstanding Organization at a student programs conference held by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District 3. Incoming student ambassador president Matt Long, a rising senior in finance from Hickory, spoke to us about AASAP and the year ahead. Your Alumni Association membership supports the program.

What’s the purpose of AASAP?
To foster traditions in the NC State community and to help bridge the gap between students and alumni. To achieve this, our organization is broken into several committees. Our STAT (Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow) committee focuses on current students networking with NC State alumni. We also have our traditions committee, which focuses on events such as pep rallies, the Ram Roast and Founders’ Day. Our membership committee keeps STAT members happy and handles recruitment and our retreats. And our Homecoming committee handles Homecoming, which is our biggest event. We’re one of the only universities to have a solely student-run Homecoming.

What’s ahead in 2010-11 for AASAP?
Founders’ Day is a tradition we’re continually trying to increase the scale of. As of now, it’s a one-day thing in which we distribute birthday cake and prizes on the Brickyard. In the future, we’d like to maybe even make it a weeklong celebration and for it to be a spring Homecoming. We’re also always looking for ways to improve Homecoming. One of our goals is to have every NC State student participate in at least one event during Homecoming, so we’re thinking of ways to draw even more students to our Pack Howl concerts, for example, and we’re looking to partner with more businesses and reach out more to the local community.

Why are you involved in AASAP?
The pep rally before the [opening football game of the season against the University of South Carolina last year] blew my mind. It was one of the biggest events we put on in the history of the program. I saw hundreds and hundreds of students excited about NC State and celebrating together. NC State is a large school; and this organization makes an impact on the student body in a bigger way than I have seen from any other organization. Traditions are such an important part of being part of a university, too. They give you a sense of pride and they help make connections. And we help make that happen.